Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Nanoscience
Session: 1
Room: Calvert
Alondra A. Lugo-Ruiz - University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
Co-Author(s): María J. Paz-Ruiz, University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, Ponce, PR. Sonia J. Bailon-Ruiz, University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, Ponce, PR.
Over 17% of water contamination in the world is due to the discharge of wastewater from textile and dyeing industries. These industries use a large portion of organic dyes, which are found to be toxic, carcinogenic, and can be difficult to remove. Conventional treatments have been studied and found to be ineffective for the removal of the dyes. However, one effective way to remove them from our water sources is by a photocatalytic degradation process using semiconductor nanoparticles. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a semiconductor material with intrinsic optical and electronic properties and is one of the most used photocatalyst for the degradation of these organic contaminants. The objective of this investigation is to assess the organic dyes individually and combined, in the presence of Titanium Dioxide nanoparticles. Photodegradation studies were evaluated in the presence of dyes like Malachite Green Chloride (MG) and Methyl Violet (MV) at different concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (10, 15, 25, and 50 ppm). Following the UV irradiation of the dyes at certain time intervals, it was found that 10 ppm and 15 ppm degraded MG and MV more swiftly than the other concentrations, with ~92% and ~98%, respectively. On the other hand, 50 ppm TiO2 degraded the multi-component faster, at 98%. These results demonstrate that TiO2 is an effective photocatalyst for the degradation of dyes.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Institutional Funds Puerto Rico - Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP).
Faculty Advisor: Sonia J. Bailón-Ruiz, sonia.bailon@upr.edu
Role: Measure the absorbance of the dyes. Prepare the stock solutions of the nanoparticles. Prepare the control and experimental solutions for the photo degradation of the dyes.